Swampscott selectmen evaluation: Fitzgerald ‘exceeds expectations’

William J. Dowd wdowd@wickedlocal.com @WJD_MHDReporter

Wednesday

Jun 20, 2018 at 12:35 AMJun 21, 2018 at 2:53 PM

On Tuesday night, Sean Fitzgerald received high praise from members of the Board of Selectmen when they offered a performance evaluation of the Peabody resident’s first year as Swampscott town administrator.

Fitzgerald took over as town administrator in February 2017. Selectmen hired Fitzgerald after they interviewed him and two other candidates in December 2016 to fill the vacancy created when Thomas Younger accepted an offer to become Stoneham’s head administrator.

During Fitzgerald’s interview for the town administrator job, selectmen not only appeared impressed with his record of accomplishments and leadership abilities as town manager of Plaistow, N.H., but also his enthusiasm for municipal administration and public service.

“The eagerness, energy and commitment to our town government demonstrated during Sean’s interview process has extended without pause or disappointment to the manner in which Sean undertakes his responsibilities on a daily basis,” said Spellios Tuesday night. “Simply stated, Swampscott is better as a result of Sean’s leadership.”

While selectmen pinned “exceeds expectations” in all areas to Fitzgerald's performance, their satisfaction with the “discipline and focus” that he has brought to Swampscott municipal finances came across quite clear.

Over the past 15 months, selectmen note Fitzgerald completed negotiations for five collective bargaining contracts and spearheaded a yearlong “unprecedented” effort that resulted in the town’s finance staff, department heads and officials putting a new budget process in place - while also building a “zero-based” fiscal year 2019 budget. Moreover, Fitzgerald led an overhaul of Swampscott's capital improvement plan, one that now lists capital projects not with a five-year outlook but rather a 30-year outlook.

“The new level of detail ensures the proper administration of town finances, helps focus town leaders on decisions required to address specific weaknesses in the town budget and, overall, increases public confidence in town government,” said Spellios.

Selectmen said Fitzgerald has developed “trusting and collegial” relationships with the leadership of Swampscott Public Schools, the town’s state lawmakers, officials from neighboring communities as well as implemented “significant personnel changes and restructuring in Swampscott Town Hall.”

“Personnel changes have been the result of both vacancies and changes initiated by Sean in order to reorganize and refocus our town government in more effective and efficient ways,” said Spellios

Case in selectmen’s point: The board, on Fitzgerald’s recommendation, elevated Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta and Treasurer-Collector Ron Mendes to assistant town administrators. Cheryl Herrick-Stella, a Beverly resident, was also hired as town accountant in 2017. On Tuesday night, selectmen also noted an enthusiasm for Fitzgerald having brought Ana Lanzilli on board as the board’s administrative assistant.

“Hiring strong people is a clear sign of strong leadership,” said Spellios. “The board is particularly appreciative of Sean’s efforts to hire a human resource director that will oversee all human resource administration of town and School Department employees.”

Selectmen also said they were quite impressed with Fitzgerald’s efforts around regionalizing Swampscott veterans’ services with Lynn and research into grant and state and federal funding opportunities to finance town projects.

Selectmen described Fitzgerald as a dedicated, creative and intelligent town administrator who makes himself readily available to members of the Swampscott community – from selectmen and town employees to volunteers and residents.

“Sean’s open-door policy, however, can consume a large amount of time and often distracts from other important tasks,” said Spellios. “To help minimize the time and distraction, the board suggests bringing town department heads into conversations earlier, so that they may undertake an increasing role in addressing questions and concerns.”

Selectmen asked Fitzgerald delegate more responsibility to town employees now that many vacancies have been filled and new hires have taken place. They also expressed a need for selectmen and Fitzgerald to have more clarity on goals and expectations.

But as a whole: “Sean has exceeded expectations in virtually every category,” said Spellios. "We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Sean and working with him and the entire professional and volunteer government to continue the significant progress made.”